I teach a 10th grade remedial math class.  My problem is this:  Very few of the students are doing their home and class assignments.  I am trying to get them to realize how it’s affecting their grade, however I noticed that whenever I give them a progress report they seem to feel that I am giving them their grade.  I want them to realize that they are earning their grade.  This week I plan to teach them how to calculate their current grade based on a list of assignments and their own marks so far.  I  will ask them to write comments about their progress––what they learned and didn’t learn.  I’ll also ask them to make a plan for the next two weeks. What do I need to be prepared for?

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:

Use the 3 x 5 inch technique explained here. As you planned, have each student complete the task of calculating their assignment marks to arrive at an overall grade.  Have them write their grade on the card.

The problem will be if someone puts down an academic grade of B, for example, when they actually earned an academic grade of D.  Have them review their calculations again while you watch and then ask them to justify the grade they have written on the card.  Remember that during these short individual sessions, you ask the questions. The student should justify his/her response, rather than you.

I teach a class of remediation seniors who have not passed the high school exit exam. They are very difficult to control. Nothing fazes them. There are two or three who simply do not take no for an answer. They ask to go to the bathroom, get a drink, make a phone call. I say “No.”  They ask again in 3 minutes.

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:

Teach the Hierarchy. Discuss the level that students are on when they attempt to evade their responsibility of learning. (Level B because they are making their own standards of what school should be about.)

Share the examples you have described in your question above.  Ask the class to develop some procedures where it can be a win-win situation. Explain you don’t want to say no, but you know that the trips out of the room are attempts to remain victims of impulses.  They are simply excuses to waste time, rather than learn.

Spend a few minutes daily with each of these students at their desk level––not over them. Tutor them. Build a relationship with each one.

Have a class discussion regarding how collaboration is an excellent way to learn.  Explain why  peer mentoring is so effective for both the mentor and the mentee. Try to match these students up with another student who would be willing to work with them.

If all else fails, you can always use contingencies, e.g., “Sure you can go, when your assignment is completed and you explain it to me.”

Note: A full explanation of “contingencies” can be found in Dr. Marshall’s book, starting on page 3.

Does anyone know if DWS is ever implemented in high school? I teach high school Leadership classes and I think high schoolers need these things even more immediately than little ones. The real world is going to require self-discipline of them, real soon! Raising their responsibility is exactly what high school kids need. Most of the discussions I hear about the system seemed aimed at younger children, though presumably they should be applicable to older students as well. I would like any tips, or even encouragement for using this in high school.

RESPONSE:

The DWS approach was developed when the author, Dr. Marvin Marshall, was teaching in a high school setting. It’s been adapted for primary , not the other way around. Often primary teachers initially have the opposite question. Knowing that this system has been originally developed for use in high schools, they wonder if it can be used with younger students!

Part One of the article, USING A DISCIPLINE SYSTEM TO PROMOTE LEARNING discusses how Dr. Marshall came to develop his approach.

The truth is that the approach can be implemented across the grade levels in almost an identical way. Many times, a high school teacher can benefit from discussions among primary teachers and vice versa too! A leadership class in particular is very much suited to ongoing discussions of the DWS Hierarchy.

You’re absolutely right in thinking that it’s very important for young adults to have information about self-discipline, simply because they’re soon to be entering the world at large. DWS ideas can be of immediate and very real use to them. Look at this “alarm clock hierarchy” created by high school teacher, Jim Mann.

I use the levels to teach the importance of establishing a procedure each morning to get to school on time. I use an alarm clock analogy:

Level D - You set your alarm clock, wake up, and get to school on time.

Level C - You depend on your parents to wake you up so you get to school on time.

Level B - You ignore the alarm clock and come to school late.

Level A – You don’t even set your alarm clock because you are only interested in what you want and do not consider how your actions affect others.

I tell my high school students that to succeed in college, they must have motivation on Level D. Their motivation must come from within.

This is the type of down-to-earth, very practical discussions that can take place in high school. All students can benefit from understandings like this one–simple in one way, yet leading to a much larger message of something that separates successful college students from others. To be successful in life/college, one needs to be motivated from within.

You’re on the right track!  If you see the value of internal motivation for your students and understand that the difference between Levels C and D is one of the key points in the DWS approach, then you can show your students how it relates to their everyday lives.

If you’ve experienced the power of internal motivation in your own life, share your stories with students. Look for opportunities to discuss how internal motivation helps people lead more satisfying lives, regardless of their age. Speak with passion so that the kids see that there’s a reason to take DWS ideas to heart!

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:
These students will have more discipline challenges than the average—as indicated by their backgrounds and by their being placed in the special class you are teaching. Most of them probably have little structure and/or attention at home. Some will behave respectfully and responsibly ONLY if they do not have negative feelings about the teacher. Hence, it will be necessary to talk positively to them by emphasizing their strengths and continually telling them of your confidence in them.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Learn the names they would like to be called by you, mentioning not to give “street names.” Some will want you to use nicknames, instead of the name listed on official records.

2. Start greeting students at the door each day, calling them by their preferred name as they enter. A simple, “Hi, Malvern,” will do.

3. Post the levels in the front of your classroom so that when students are looking at you, they will also see the poster in the background.

4. Inform them that what they do, or do not do, affects them more than you. Have a discussion on the topic.

5. Read aloud to the students, the section on victimhood thinking from DISCIPLINE without STRESS, PUNISHMENTS or REWARDS.

6. Have a sponge activity when they first come into the room and have another activity ready when they complete the first–dead time is deadly!

7. Relationships are critical with these students. Give them “talk time.” Plan on using the last ten minutes of every period for a “Reflection and Interview Time.”

• Reflection: Ask them to relate to one other person what they learned in the class. After each learning partner has shared, have them interview each other.

• Interview: Each day put three questions on the board and let students choose one question to ask the other person.

• What is your favorite movie and why?
• What to you like to do most?
• What do you think is your strongest asset?

8. Ron Clark’s book, The Essential 55, would be an excellent
resource for you.

Finally, remember that your greatest contribution to these students will not likely be in terms of academic performance. It will be in having them LEARN (and WANT to learn), how to act in socially acceptable ways.

Persevere! You are the best thing some of your students have in their lives.

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:
The problem is the history of the class–you are one of their many teachers. They have had no stability, no structure and what’s more, they know that you are not their regular teacher. They know that you will not be there very long and therefore, they feel no restrictions.

Your students are like the young boys deserted on a desert island, described in William Golding’s 1954, Nobel-prize winning, “Lord of the Flies.” (Incidentally, I derived the first two levels of the hierarchy from the book.) The boys operated, as some of your students are, as if there were no standards, no expectations—as if anyone could do whatever they wanted.

When there is anarchy (Level A), someone eventually takes over and makes the rules. That person becomes the boss. In Golding’s story, the person who became the boss, bullied the others (Level B).

The hierarchy levels are levels of social development. When I developed the DISCIPLINE without STRESS Teaching Model, I was teaching social studies–the levels were very handy in explaining both historical and current events.

For example, what do you think the results would have been if Mahatma Gandhi had tried using nonviolence against Adolph Hitler? Gandhi’s approached worked because he used it against a democratic type of government–Great Britain. Using noncoercion against a tyrant would have dramatically shortened Gandhi’s life.

YOU CANNOT TREAT PEOPLE WHO ARE OPERATING AT LEVEL B, AS IF THEY ARE AT LEVEL D. THEY MUST FIRST EXPERIENCE LEVEL C. The goal of the teacher is to have all students operating at Level C or higher.

In a classroom, we attempt to get students at least to Level C. However, if students choose not to act appropriately–when they make their own rules and thereby bully the teacher–they are in effect saying, “Boss us; we need you to tell us what to do because we can’t do it by ourselves.”

In that case, treat them as if they are not mature enough to operate at Level C. Let them know that this is how THEY are telling you they want to be treated. THEY HAVE MADE THE CHOICE OF THE TYPE OF TEACHER THEY WILL HAVE–a Level B teacher. Please understand that you can be a Level B teacher without being autocratic or authoritarian.

You can use authority without being authoritarian or punitive. Here is how to do it:

Explain EVERY procedure down to the smallest detail. Demonstrate EXACTLY what you want students to do and have them practice the procedure. If any students start to misbehave, simply say, “I THOUGHT you were on Level C, but I guess I was wrong.” Then have them practice the procedure again.

Let them know that when they can do the procedure two times, as students on Level C would, then they will have convinced you that they are mature enough to get into the lesson. Learning how to do procedures successfully must be demonstrated. Then they will be ready to learn.

Again, emphasize that this is THEIR choice and that no teaching will be attempted by you until they can demonstrate that they are ready to learn.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Be sure there is no dead time when students are just sitting. Dead classroom time is deadly! It is an invitation for being mischievous. Always have students doing something, even repeating procedures again and again until they demonstrate to you that they are ready to move onto learning. The psychology behind this is for them to come to you rather than your being “controlled by their anarchistic behavior.”

To repeat the point: This strategy means the students may be practicing the same routine until they really get fed up with it! Follow this same approach for every procedure you introduce. Students will soon get to the point that they no longer want to be treated in this manner and so will begin to comply willingly.

2. When a student continues to act at Level A/B, go up to the student and whisper in his/her ear, “Don’t worry about what will happen later. We will talk about it after class.” (When it comes to changing behavior, not knowing what will happen is more effective than knowing what will happen.) This statement will immediately stop the misbehavior because it will redirect the student’s attention.

3. After class or at a quiet moment, elicit a consequence, e.g., “Shall we have you call a parent and explain your behavior? Shall we have you report to the assistant principal and have you describe your level of behavior?” “Or perhaps you have a better idea to control your impulses next time?”

4. Start off each day with a class meeting, beginning with a reflection about behavior on the previous day. Put some suggestions on the table (first from the students and then from you), for what their expectations are for the day. If they say Level C (and they will), treat them that way. If they go back to misbehaving, let them know that they must want you to be a Level B teacher again and go back to having them practice in minute detail everything you want them to do.

5. Review the impulse procedure as illustrated at this link: http://www.marvinmarshall.com/impulsemanagement.html

6. Have a discussion about being victims of their impulses. Have them practice gasping to redirect their impulses. Discuss other procedures they can use to redirect their impulses so they need not be victims and can instead, demonstrate that they are capable of acting on Level C–regardless of who the teacher is.

7. Be proactive. Let them know that sooner or later, they will be getting a new teacher. You are preparing them so that when the new teacher arrives, they can show their new teacher how they have grown and how well they can manage their impulses and act as they should.

8. Remember, your challenge is to create new mindsets in the their heads. They are capable of acting on Level C and your role is to help them.

DR. MARSHALL’S RESPONSE:
Every student-teacher relationship is different. No teacher should be bound by the relationship of another.

The less reliance on the form, the more successful you will be in discipline situations. Use it only as a last resort.

The essay was designed to give the student a responsibility-producing activity while allowing the teacher to continue teaching.

When the teacher has a moment to spend with the student, the discussion should revolve around developing a procedure to help the student redirect impulses.

The self-diagnostic referral is used when the essay is no longer effective and the teacher wants to inform the parent. If a student has behaved responsibly after completing the self-diagnostic referral, then the essay can be used again.

In all cases, the student is asked to identify the level of chosen behavior. This, in essence, serves as a warning before any written form is given.

When a form is used, remember to give the student several choices, e.g., completing the form in the student’s seat, in the back of the room or with the help of another student.

The mindset of the teacher should be to work with the student to help him/her control impulses.

Remember that the forms are simply options for a teacher to use if they so choose. The teacher can also elicit a consequence from the student if irresponsible behavior continues.